Time is a Funny Thing

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, make the most of your time…” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

We were sitting in his boat on his favorite reservoir, here he had spent many hours over the years, not only fishing but unwinding and thinking through the challenges of his life as a Southern Idaho farmer. Besides fishing, we talked about life that day. Little did either of us know that at 87 years of age, my father only had one more month to live. O how I wish I had made more of that time together.

Talking about his 87 year journey, he said, “I don’t know where the time has gone, inside I feel no different than I did 60 years ago and looking out on the world is the same man who looked out upon it 60 years ago.” But looking in the mirror would show a great difference. He  was feeling difference too, for esophageal cancer was eating away at his once robust body, to the place that he needed assistance getting in and out of his boat that day.

It’s funny how we have to personally put on a significant bit of age before the brevity of life breaks upon us. There are many times in our lives when we feel like time is dragging, long hours, long days, long weeks, long years. Then, one day we awaken and ask, “Where has the time gone?”

Perhaps that is why I admonish fathers and mothers of young children to enjoy every single moment of every single stage of the lives of their children, because in a blink the those children will be handing their children to you. When I say that I often get looks like I do not know what I am talking about. Don’t I know that they are up to their armpits in dirty diapers, loads of laundry, sleepless night with a colicky baby? I do understand, I’ve been there and done that. I’ve experienced the nights that seemed to last forever, but somewhere along the way the time passed. And now, my babies are all in their 40’s. Of the babies that they handed to me, one is married, four are in college, three are in high school and the youngest is in middle school.

From the vantage point of U.S. Navy Basic Training, the four year commitment that I made to Uncle Sam seem like eons looming out ahead of me. That Boot Camp experience has been in the rearview mirror for 56 years this month, and that four year commitment ended 52 years ago. And now, at 74 years of age, I wish I could put the brakes on the days and weeks that are passing by me so very quickly. I can now see the sunset of my life from here. According to the actuarial tables, I have a whole lot more of life behind me than I have out in front of me. And like never before, I want the years that I have left to count for more than the years that lay behind.

I believe that I have some wisdom to share with those who will listen. There is so much more I have to say, so much more that I want to do. I have told the Lord that I am His as long as He lends me breath. Presently, He is still opening doors of opportunity for me to share His Word with His People. You know what I wish for? That He will one day take me home right after I have preached the best sermon of my life.

I often ponder the following words attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” The stuff life is made of, time past, time present, and time yet in the future, time is God’s gift to you. Use it wisely my friend, use it wisely. For time wisely used will seldom be time that we look back on with regret.